1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the art of injection molding and, more particularly, to a two-part mold apparatus wherein an article is embedded by a matrix of plastic material within a casing wherein the plastic material also forms a desired interior configuration of the assembled unit.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In many cases wherein a tubular member is embedded by a matrix of plastic material within a cylindrical casing in a mold, it is important that the mold provides an exact axial relationship for the tubular member and the casing.
One prior method of producing such an article is to place a tubular member assembled within a casing, on a post located in the center of a mold cavity and employing the walls and floor defining the cavity, for determining the assembled relationship of the tubular member in the casing. In this method, the axial position of the post relative to the cavity of the mold is usually adjusted until the desired axial relationship between the tubular member and the cylindrical casing is obtained. Although this method is satisfactory for components of fixed size, it is not satisfactory for establishing an exact relationship between a tubular member and a casing when the lengths of the tubular member and the casing are variable, such as when the length of the casing varies within the manufacturing tolerances and the tubular member is formed from a stack of laminated discs wherein the number of discs may vary. That is, there may be times when the tubular member may be formed from a stack having too many or too few discs. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a mold for embedding a tubular member in a cylindrical casing wherein the mold is provided with means which automatically compensate for the variances in the length of the tubular member and the casing.